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I can really tell, where I live, that the semester started today (always much later here than in the USA). Suddenly there aren’t any seats free on the tram, the supermarket is packed at lunch time, and the free newspaper is gone before I get to the tram stop. I still remember my first two months in Vienna, August and September 1988. I thought I had found the perfect city–a spectacular selection of concerts and museums and no need to make one’s way through masses of people. That illusion ended at the beginning of October, when the universities started up again. 😉

It is perfect early fall weather here so Maylo and I expected crowds on Nussberg today. What we hadn’t reckoned on was that today is the annual Weinwandertag, when all the usual Heurigen are open and are supplemented by additional stands along the way. It must be pretty much a record turn out.

Seeing this Maylo and I took the low road and enjoyed a perfect walk for introverts. 😉

One of the first phrases one learns in any beginning German course, “Wie geht’s?” means “How are you?” Simple, it seems. And yet it is important to know that there is no one-to-one correlation in how those phrases are used in Germany / Austria and the U.S.A.

First of all, in German “Wie geht’s?” by itself is quite informal. Ideally, you remember whether you are “per du” with someone or “per Sie”, the former being the informal you (like “tu” in French) and the latter being the formal you (like “vous”). If you are “per Sie” then the correct phrase is “Wie geht’s Ihnen?”–a German lesson in and of itself including relatively advanced concepts like the dative. If you are “per du” then “Wie geht’s?” by itself is acceptable or you could say “Wie geht’s dir?”

That’s the language lesson associated with that simple phrase. Then there are the intercultural aspects. In German, you only ask the question if you really want to know. This usually means you only ask people you know well, where you are prepared to hear a relatively long and truthful account of their current state of being (no “Fine, thanks, and you?” when someone’s back hurts or life is falling apart). It is acceptable to ask a stranger if there has been some kind of accident and you want to make sure the person is all right, but the general use of “Wie geht’s” simply does not exist here. For example, you would never find a salesperson asking you as you come into the store, even though “Schönen Tag!” (“Have a nice day!”) does seem to have crept into the language.

For years, I had a not entirely earned reputation of being a nice person, because I asked colleagues and clients alike “Wie geht’s” and listened patiently as they chronicled their aches and pains. The danger should one ask and then not listen to the answer is that one is labeled “superficial”–a grave allegation in this relationship-oriented culture.

Because I asked, though, I have also found some answers that have always intrigued me and that are, I believe, typically Viennese. One is “Lei’wand” (short for “Leinwand” or movie screen), which is generally interpreted to mean “Great!” The other goes deeper into the Viennese mindset. Sometimes people, especially those lower down on the socio-economic scale, answer, “Wie die Anderen wollen” or “As the others would have it”, expressing a sense that they do not control their destiny, are subject to the whims of others. So much for “I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul.”

A number of years ago now the City of Vienna changed the pattern of tram traffic on the Ringstraße. I’m afraid it is my belief, and not only mine, that they only did this to make money (granted, off the tourists, which may make the change more palatable to residents), uncaring of the inconvenience to anyone taking the Ring trams regularly.

That is, in the good old days, there were two lines that went in circles around the first district. You only had to know that the one on the inner ring, the Nr. 1 tram, went clockwise and the one across the Ring on the outer circuit, the Nr. 2 tram, went counter-clockwise. In those days you could get anywhere on the Ring quickly and without changing. And if you were a tourist you could get an overview of this incredibly important thoroughfare for the price of a normal ticket.

Inconvenience Nr. 1: It took me, a regular passenger around the Ring, at least five years to get used to the new patterns. At first I kept ending up in the 4th district when I was trying–late, as usual–to get to the Konzerthaus. In fact, last week I was at Schwedenplatz and a little old lady confided in me that she has lived in Vienna for 90 years and has never adjusted to the change. She wanted to know if the tram she was boarding would take her to the Opera. It would, but just barely, being the one that now trundles off into the 4th.

Inconvenience Nr. 2: There are now a number of places I can only reach by changing twice, where before I only had to change once. (Tip to public transportation authorities: Passengers love this.)

Inconvenience Nr. 3: Where before I had two possibilities for getting to the Konzerthaus, for example, I afterwards only had one (until the 71 was extended to the old Stock Exchange). (Next tip to the public transportation authorities: Passengers love this even more.)

All of this was done, ostensibly, in the name of making life easier for passengers. Hard to believe. I am actually one of the lucky ones. At least for me one trip I take regularly (two or three times a year to visit a friend in the 2nd district) has become easier through the changes.

Why did I mention money at the beginning? Because below is a photo of the travesty now called the “Ring Tram”–a special tram that goes all the way around the Ring, for which you need to buy a special ticket that costs about three times as much as a normal ticket. 😦 Not a good move.

I was walking through the park in front of the Nationalbank on Sunday on my way to afternoon tea at a friend’s house and took this picture. Yes, those are lilacs and, yes, it is September. That is not normal for Vienna!

I’ve been meaning to take a photo of this for years. It is precisely the kind of building that is a perfect example of an earlier time and most likely to be torn down or converted into something else. In this case, although the building is much older, the fact that it is called a garage makes me think of the 1950s, when very few Viennese had cars and quite often they parked them in neighborhood garages, which were more like workshops than more modern parking garages. Mary Stewart describes just such a place in Marseilles in her wonderful romantic thriller Madam, Will You Talk?

Just a quick note: the Hotel Bristol will be hosting Afternoon Tea with Opera Stars (and, yes, that they’re calling “Afternoon Tea” not “Nachmittagstee”). To celebrate various premieres they are offering a traditional (English, I suppose) afternoon tea with Sekt (or sparkling wine) and a chance to meet (see?) the singers, conductors, and stage directors of the current premiere at the State Opera just across the street.

It costs EUR 49 per person and can be booked by calling +43-1-515 16 555 or by writing to groupsevents.bristol[at]luxurycollection.com. The one of the first opera stars at this Salon Operá is Michael Schade, appearing on 26 September 2014.